The names and some identifying details of people from Afghanistan in this story have been changed for their families’ safety.
The sobs of a little girl in a yellow dress punctuated the hiss of a tear gas canister. In the shaky cell phone video filmed by 19-year-old Aadella Sadaat on the streets outside of the Kabul airport on August 26, the little girl slid out of frame, replaced by disjointed images: running feet, masked faces, a woman’s hijab, a trash-strewn road. Dozens of people, including Aadella’s younger siblings and parents, teetered on a concrete median beside a highway. As the tear gas gushed toward them, they grabbed suitcases and backpacks, shielding their faces and rushing into oncoming traffic.
Aadella and her family had been trying to get on a flight to the United States, despite warnings of a security threat at the Kabul airport. They got as close to the east gate near the interior ministry as they could, where they had heard it was safer. Things were fine for the first hour or so, but suddenly the Taliban fired tear gas and bullets to disperse the crowd. Only later, when the Sadaats returned red-eyed and dizzy to their relatives’ house a few miles away, did they hear about explosions at Kabul Airport’s other gates that killed 182 people.
